June 19, 2023

Submitted by site_admin on Tue, 01/17/2023 - 22:58

BAMFIELD COMMUNITY AFFAIRS SOCIETY

General Meeting Unofficial Minutes

Monday 19 June 2023 at 6.30 pm
via Zoom - hosted by Jamie Willock (Chair)

Attendees (32): Jamie Willock (Chair), Sheryl and John Mass, Julie Bradley, Tom Jensen, Robin Schmitt, Bob Schmitt, Ben West, Max Salamon, Stefan Ochman, Jan Teversham,  Clay Steell, , Glen Ballman. Jaslyn Haberl, Louis Druehl, Rae  Hopkins, Jerry Gassner, Barry Sills, Greg Willmon,   Bob Beckett, Jaleen Rousseau, Kurt Kranz, Susan Derasp, Lisa Bye, Bonnie McKay, Bernie and Keith Wyton, Marnie McAughtrie, Jane Trussler, Sean Rogers, Nancy Hendry, Shirley ,

Regrets: Stella Wenstob

Presenters: Beth Hurford, Ed Kunderman ACRD.

        Charlie Clappis, Director of Capital and Infrastructure, HFN.

Acknowledgement of Indigenous Lands: The BCAS acknowledges that the land on which we meet is within the Traditional territory of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations where indigenous peoples have lived since time immemorial.

Statement of Inclusivity: The BCAS is responsible for fostering a public forum within its community to facilitate communications and services that diverse groups identify as respectful, inclusive and accessible.

The meeting was called to order at 6.34 pm.

The agenda was passed m/SMass s/BSills

Presentation by ACRD: Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Charlie Clappis, introduced the HFN new treatment system and the presentation is attached .

Questions were asked about 

  • the capacity- now at 50% capacity. More ‘trains’ can be added.
  • How far discussions have gone re end users in both east and west Bamfield. New developers are interested
  • Organising a tour of the facility. This can be arranged if there is interest.

Beth Hurford- Community Consultant for Urban Systems then led us through the presentation on “ Bamfield Community Sewer Connection Discussion” and the presentation is attached.

Questions asked:

  • Beth wanted to know the best way to get updates out to the community. Can use the corkboard, post hard copies  and have zoom or face to face meetings. Also, the New Bamfielder would be a useful source of information.
  • Clarification re the degradation of the inlet reference. It is caused by sewage entering the inlet directly from old houses adjacent to the shore. So, there are elevated faecal coliform counts in the inlets- Bamfield and Grappler.
  • When the last testing was. Not sure.
  • Were regulations about to change? No. The Ministry of Environment regulations are followed. Nothing new is planned.
  • What is the situation of other coastal communities? Can we learn from best practices elsewhere?

Bob Beckett, Regional Director  suggested that federal and provincial grants should be sought to fund homeowners wanting to connect. Otherwise, the cost to homeowners would be too high to consider the change.

Adoption of Minutes of  May’s Community Affairs Meeting. m/JBradley s/BWest at 7.13

ACRD DIRECTOR’S REPORT – by Bob Beckett

#1. Cameron Lake Bluff Fire

The Cameron Lake Bluff Fire and subsequent Hwy 4 road closure has put the focus on the need for the province and local authorities to establish, maintain, and or improve alternate secondary road routes. The day after the Highway closure, Sean Rogers and I reached out to MLA Josie Osborn to ask her to set up a meeting as soon as the efforts to extinguish the fire and open the road would allow. Sean and I both agreed that the incident and the necessity to use the Bamfield Rd as an alternate route, demonstrates the need for the province to ensure the Bamfield Road Project is completed in a timely fashion and that the maintenance of the Bamfield Road and Cowichan lake access road is appropriately maintained throughout the year. We also copied Chief Robert Dennis, acknowledging all the efforts to date on the Bamfield Road Project as well as inviting the HFN to join us when we meet with Minister Osborn.

I also wanted to acknowledge and thank all the firefighters, EOC staff and MOTI personnel who have been working round the clock in an effort to extinguish the fire and takes the necessary measures to get the road opened for safe public transportation.

#2.  Preliminary Declaration of Results (Huu-ay-aht First Nation Government)

I would like to congratulate and acknowledge all those candidates who ran for a position on the Huu-ay-aht First Nation Council. I look forward to working with the newly Elected Chief and Council members following the Final declaration of results.

#3. Congratulations to our own Bamfield SD70 graduates!

Congratulations to our 2023 Bamfield grads, well done everyone including staff, parents, friends and family. “Education is the most powerful weapon that we use to change the world”. -Nelson Mandela

Bob added that the ACRD recognises that tourism has been impacted here in Bamfield as well as other larger west coast towns. He will be glad when the road is open again.

CORRESPONDENCE

Road Report sent by Kevin Gordon

The gravel, drainage and signing portion of the road was completed on June 1. However, since then the detour has caused us major issues to our surfacing that will need to be repaired before the seal coat in July. We will have a construction crew repairing the road as planned, before the seal coat contractor begins their work.

The Seal coat is still planned to begin in July and will be completed by end of September. We have crushed 90% of the rock required for the seal coat and it is stockpiled along the road in 4 locations.

Equipment will begin to appear on the project in the next few weeks and the crushing in Blenheim Pit will wrap up shortly.

TREASURER’S REPORT  

For April 30 2023

Chequing account balance $10,519.85

High Interest savings balance $22,639.74

Member shares $5.21

Total Assets $33,164.80

Withdrawals: $16,600 back to ACRD as it was sent in error. $3,500 for treehouse toilet repairs GIA

Deposit $1004.50 from ACRD destined for Road Safety Association.

For May 31 2023

Chequing account balance $10,519.85

High Interest savings balance $22,666.66

Member shares $5.21

Total Assets $33,191.72

COMMUNITY REPORTS

  1. BMSC Report- from Sean Rogers
  • Minister Osborne will be sitting down to discuss and ensure a safe alternate route out to the West Coast.
  • Congratulations on the HFN elections
  • There were discussions in 2006 on the inlet water quality at BMSC.
  • Marie Cummings is the new Station Manager at BMSC who will be overseeing food, maintenance, and housekeeping
  • Sixty six new university students started on Monday. This is the largest group since the dark days of Covid.
  • There will be 150 researchers on site this summer. This is really good for funding prospects.
  • Discussions are underway to host international conferences in collaboration with the Hakai Institute. In 2025 two conferences will be hosted- International Seaweed and International Sticklebacks!!
  • Various job openings are being advertised now and hiring is taking place.
  • Sean wants BMSC to be open to the community and welcomes community members to contact him.

Thanks from Jamie to Sean and BMSC for enabling the high school education in Bamfield.

2.Bamfield Community School Association – from Jaslyn Harbel, read by Julie Bradley.

The BCSA has been busy with many fun events and programs in May and June, and we are so grateful to the community for all their support! We were successful in obtaining a Participaction grant, to reduce barriers to accessing sports in our community, which we have invested in new sports equipment and additional sports programming... we'd like to encourage any and all community members to download the Participaction app and track your physical activity (beach walks, gardening, wrangling your children) to help us win prizes and further funding in this month's Community Challenge.  

Some recent highlights:

  • Our preschool-aged friends from Bamfield and Paawats recently had the opportunity to come play at the school for Little Buddies Playtime - wee ones and their adults are next invited to the school for songs, games, crafts, and play on Tuesday June 27th from 10-11:30am.
  • School-aged kids have been enjoying the extra Participaction programs, including a Kids Basketball After School Club, Monday night Kickball, rugby with Dane and Ilan, and the usual active chaos during our weekly After School Club.
  • Youth in the secondary class recently finished up the inaugural year of the Bamfield Aquaculture Club by preparing a Thank You Feast for community members who helped to facilitate workshops and field trips for the program. Thank you to the BVFD for hosting us!
  • Youth in the community were thrilled with a recent investment in laser tag, which we very much enjoyed at the most recent Friday Night Chill! The next Chill is planned for Friday July 7th.
  • Community members of all ages have been enjoying free soccer, kickball, and yoga programming as part of Participaction this month! You can join us for the final Kickball match, which will double as the Dodgeball Awards Ceremony and BBQ next Monday the 26th at 6:30pm on the school field. There is also a Community Softball game planned at the school on Saturday June 24th at 5pm.
  • The community TURNED OUT for Pride on Saturday!!! It was a really fun, beautiful celebration of our LGBTQIA2S+ community. We sashayed the West Side Boardwalk, connecting with lots of community members on the way, and made our way to the beautiful West Park for a community BBQ, games, and activities. Renee did an amazing job of organizing this event, and we are both so grateful to Aneri and Miranda who jumped into the thick of the planning with enthusiasm and glitter. Special thanks also to the Bamfield Wreckage, who donated the proceeds from their Spring clothing swap to this event.

Looking ahead to the summer, we are happy to share that we are offering fun and creative Summer Day Camps for children! We are still hoping to hire a youth to be our Day Camp Facilitator - please see our website or Facebook page for job details! With additional staff support, we may be able to expand our dates, but for now, families can plan on having fun and engaging activities for children ages 5-12 most weeks of the summer. Details will be sent home with students, and available on our website and Facebook page this week. We hope to provide more information soon about which days will be open to Little Buddies to join us at Day Camp, as well as plans for youth and community events. 
In addition to the BCSA Day Camps, from July 31-August 4 we will be co-hosting Day Camps for children ages 5-18 with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations Cultural Wellness Team!

Finally, our open hours to access the Community Library, computers and printing will continue to be Tuesday to Thursday 12-5pm until the end of June. We will be assessing and updating our open hours over the summer based on staff capacity with summer day camps.

3. Centennial  Park - Sheryl Mass

  • The contract for the new playground has been awarded and the playground is ordered. It’s going to be very bright and cheerful- orange, lime green and teal and is designed for toddlers  and up to Grade 12.It’s a Community Build so an overseer will come but the community should provide 12-15 people to assist in the construction for 3 days. It is scheduled to arrive in mid-August  ready for an early September build.
  • The $100,000 comes from ACRD gas tax grant and the cost is estimated at $85,000 so there should be some left over for some smaller projects.

          4.Community Forest- Clay Steell

  • There are plans to do some small scale salvage logging of fallen trees.
  • The request for funds from BCAS GIA  will be matched by BHCF to allow for the West Park Composting toilet to be constructed.
  • Broom has been cleared along Kiixin Road thanks to Tyra and HFN.
  • Stefan Ochman has been elected as the Chair. Other executive positions remain unchanged.
  • At the last meeting ,the Board listened to a presentation by FSC-  the Forest Stewardship Council- about the system that would get BHCF wood certified and thus worth more commercially.

         5.Bamfield Harbour Authority- Tom Jensen

  • Jeff Honig has joined the board as the treasurer. Ashley Kline remains as the secretary; Jamie Willock is the vice-chair .
  • There is a need to make membership easy for residents as there is a need to engage with the community. The AGM will be in the fall to elect a new Board and make plans.
  • The BHA is a community asset and is broader than just boats!

         6.Bamfield Community School- Robin Schmitt

  • The grad ceremony is on Friday at 2.00pm with snacks provided by HFN. There are 3 high school graduates!!

         7. Community Hall- Louis Druehl

  • After the AGM the Board remains the same.
  • The Father’s Day chili cook off was a success.
  • The July 1 boat flotilla will head into Grappler and back followed by hot dogs at Centennial park.
  • The harvest dinner and auction is on 26 August. This will be the first once since Covid  limitations..

8.Road safety Association-Stefan Ochman

  • They hope to have the memorial cairn at the bus accident site in place before Sept 13
  • The association wants to have more input into signage along the road such as cell phone coverage points.
  • Bernie Wyton thanked the association for the work that hey do on behalf of our community.

9. Chamber of Commerce- Marnie McAughtrie

  • Thanks to all those who made the First Annual Barbecue of the Chamber of Commerce in West Park a success.
  • The Highway closure has affected all businesses in Bamfield. It’s been pretty slow but it should change in the next week or so.
  • Supplies have been coming during the road closure but a few speciality items may be out.
  • Updated brochures and maps have arrived with new businesses and hiking trails shown. They are available at the Market and the Mercantile.

10. Bamfield Health Clinic- Jane Trussler

  • Jane has just started her 6 week shift. Danielle is a new nurse. Another one starts in August. There are 4 part-time nurses. There may be agency nurses  and casuals to fill in during July and August.
  • The shifts that nurses have are set to change from 6 weeks on 24/7 to 3 weeks on/ 3 weeks off. This should be more manageable for the nurses and hopefully will help retention.
  • The on call nurses after hours can be reached at 250 730 1682 but there’s no texting capabilities on the phone.
  • Supplies have been a bit of a struggle but they are managing.
  • In response to a questions about ticks- call 811 helpline. Remove the tick and see if there’s a rash. Come into the clinic if in any doubt.

NEW BUSINESS

GIA for Songwest- Nancy Hendry

Nancy introduced her request for a GIA to assist in getting Songwest up and running again after a 3-4 year break due to Covid. She will make her second presentation at the September meeting

OLD BUSINESS

GIA for a Composting Toilet in West Park- Jan Teversham

A second presentation of the West Park Composting Toilet GIA request was made. This GIA will be voted on in the upcoming Board meeting.

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Bob Beckett is hosting two Ukrainian surgeons and their families for 3 days in Bamfield- arriving July 1. Do talk to them if see them.
  • Julie announced that the Bamfield Arts Council is having an Art in the Park event on July 9, Sunday from 11-2.00 in ES Centennial Park. BCSA will be hosting a barbecue there too.
  • The culvert has been fixed by volunteers!!

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting, will be  on Monday 18 September  2023.

Meeting Adjourned at 20.36    m /SMass s/NHendry  Unanimous